A farmer in Meihua Town, East China's Jiangsu Province, reaps a bumper corn harvest on October 9, 2025. Photo: VCG

The autumn grain harvest has begun across China, and major grain-producing regions are stepping up efforts to ensure a smooth harvest despite continuous rainy weather in recent days. As of Friday, more than half of the country's autumn grain had been harvested, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MOA), the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. 

Local authorities are intensifying measures such as rapid harvesting and grain drying, with increased technological input also playing a key role, to safeguard both the autumn harvest and the nation's annual food security.

In Yuanyang County, Xinxiang City, Central China's Henan Province, more than 1,400 drones had been deployed for harvesting and transporting grain as of Sunday, with use of drones receiving tens of thousands of yuan in government subsidies, China Media Group (CMG) reported.

The report said that continuous rainfall has saturated the soil across Henan's major grain-producing areas, forcing farmers to "race against time" to harvest autumn crops such as corn, rice, and soybeans.

The county's production guidance team has mobilized 1,676 wheeled harvesters and 330 specialized crawler harvesters to provide integrated harvesting, drying, and sun-drying services. 

As of Sunday, Yuanyang had harvested 630,000 mu (42,000 hectares) of corn, accounting for more than 90 percent of the total area, CMG said.

In East China's Shandong Province, one of China's major grain-producing provinces, local authorities have expedited the approval of special loans to ensure timely funding for the use of agricultural machinery in grain harvesting.

An agricultural machinery cooperative in Dongying, Shandong, in partnership with a local bank, has issued 2 million yuan ($275,000) in targeted loans to support local farmers in corn harvesting, grain drying, purchasing, and storage, local media reported on Sunday.

The cooperative received more than 8,000 tons of corn and completed drying more than 7,000 tons, with the loans effectively supporting both its service capacity and progress in the autumn harvest, the report said.

In addition to intensified efforts by local governments at all levels, the MOA has introduced measures to strengthen emergency response and disaster relief to ensure a smooth harvest.

The Ministry of Finance, together with the MOA, allocated 484 million yuan from the central government's agricultural disaster prevention and relief fund to support seven provinces — Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, and Northwest China's Shaanxi — in accelerating agricultural disaster prevention and recovery efforts, according to the MOA.

These efforts include deploying agricultural machinery for rapid harvesting, drying moisture-laden grain, draining flooded farmland, and ensuring timely and resilient sowing of winter wheat, so as to secure the autumn grain harvest and prevent losses, the ministry said.

To ensure the smooth harvesting and drying of autumn grain in the Huanghuai region, 

the ministry has continued to guide local authorities in promoting mechanized harvesting while coordinating efforts to optimize dispatching services, mobilize disaster-relief machinery, and carry out emergency operations. These measures aim to help affected areas concentrate their resources on accelerating harvesting and drying to secure both the quantity and quality of the autumn grain yield.

As of October 7, a total of 244,300 crawler harvesters and 1,986 mobile dryers had been allocated and deployed based on local needs in the Huanghuai region.

Global Times